Subfloor and Fireplace Removal

Here are a couple pics of the house after stripping it down to slab (concrete floor), and removing anything that needed jack-hammering.

The plywood sub-floor was nailed into the concrete slab. It was removed by cutting it in into chunks and prying it off with crowbars.

The slate entry and tile in the 2pc bath were a bit more work. These were jack-hammered out. Fireplace was cut up the sides with a concrete saw and banged out with a sledgehammer.

If you look closely you will see a black sheen to the slab . Turns out it is creosote. No idea why. Best guess is the original builder wanted to protect the plywood sub-floor from moisture and rot. They should have put down plastic. C’est la vie.

Drawback is that it stinks – and apparently is toxic – but not really a problem in the minute levels on our floor (it is toxic if you eat it or use it to smoke your meat <apparently this is what they used to do>).

Our new floor will layer on top of this, after we put down plastic and insulation.

Here is a close up of the floor in the entry …

Note that the marks in the slab are not from our jack-hammering. They were there previously …. so someone replaced the entry floor at some previous point in time – however it was pretty dated slate so it had to be quite a while back.

You will also observe (if you look carefully) an area that appears to be filled with rubble. It is (filled with rubble). It is a hole in the slab. No idea why it is there … but I suspect it is the location of an old plumbing break.

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